Fiza - Movie Review
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Starring: Jaya Bachchan, Karisma Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan,
Neha, Asha Sachdev, Shivaji Satham, Sanjay Narvekar,
and Johny Lever
Producer: The Culture Company & UTV
Director: Khalid Mohamed
Music: Anu Malik
Lyrics: Gulzar, Tejpal Kaur, Sameer, Shaukat Ali, Guularl

There's good reason for the buffs to smile after a long time. If you were thirsting for meaningful fare within parameters of entertainment cinema, critic-turned-filmmaker Khalid Mohamed has doled out just that with his film...

... Fiza belongs to the ranks of Mani Rathnam's Bombay, Ramgopal Varma's Satya or John Matthew Mathan's Sarfarosh, in as much it weaves solid, relevant fiction onto the canvas of reality.

Like most biggies of the season, Mohammad's film had already raked up hype courtesy its star cast and some impressive promotion. The difference here is that this is one film that lives up to the hype, substance-wise at least. In this context, Fiza is more than a test for its maker and cast. It is also a test for the audience — it's upto them now to have a good thing running at the stakes.

The milieu is post Mumbai riots. Like several others, the unrest has had an impact on Nishatbi (Jaya Bachchan)'s household. Her son Amaan (Hrithik Roshan) goes missing after the riots and it is upto Amaan's anguished sister, Fiza (Karisma Kapoor) to trace back the boy. Mohamed draws a touching picture of how the torn mother and daughter live each day with a new hope that Amaan will return. And when Fiza finally finds her brother, her trauma will only multiply — Amaan has joined hands with disruptive forces, and become a terrorist.

The plot is used well to expose certain bitter truths. If Mohamed's intention was to reveal the circumstances that make a terrorist he has done it clinically, albeit not without the clichés. But more impressive is the filmmaker's drawing up a portrait of the political and media forces that control society, as discovered through the eyes of Fiza. There is a blunt statement of the brutalities out on the streets here, and the hypocrisy of a system that runs it all.

Which is not to say that Fiza is without its flaws. Perhaps so many commercial liberties were not needed in such an inherently introspective story. The undercurrent love story of Amaan and Shehnaz (Neha) is an instance. As is Amaan's taandav sequence, drawn up to show the boy's preparation for his final murderous mission—you don't need to pump iron and take karate training sessions to assassinate two corrupt ministers from a distance with a telescope gun. Admittedly though, sequences as this, as well as the sexy Sushmita Sen dance number, help woo the larger audiences.

There is an overt impact of Mani Rathnam's style from Bombay in Mohamed's filmmaking, complimented well by Santosh Sivan's imaginative camera and the very authentic-looking riot scenes. What Mohamed's still has to pick up is Rathnam's panache at storytelling.

But Fiza is more than just about Khalid Mohamed's foray into filmmaking. It is about Karisma Kapoor's proving a point as an actress of some substance. It is about Hrithik Roshan's establishing that he doesn't need maximum footage or glitz to impress. It is about the return after a hiatus of the ever — delightful Jaya Bachchan. And, of course, it is about the impact that Manoj Bajpai's eyes can have, even in a 20-minute special appearance.

And yes, we'll forgive Anu Malik for filching tunes in the past after the magic he has woven in Fiza..

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